1937
by AngelofAir
Summary: *SPOILER ALERT* This is a one-shot of William Owen Herondale's death, as told in Clockwork Princess...from WIll's point of view, and with a little surprise at the end. Enjoy!


_1937_

* * *

**Here it is! My wonderful/horrible idea for a fanfic! Sorry it's a little later than I wanted it to be, but it took a lot of time. I hope you like it :)**

**Also, this has a soundtrack! Listen to any of these songs while reading this!**

**Psalm 8 by Dan Forrest; Arrival of the Birds/Transformation by The Cinematic Orchestra; Olafur Arnalds by Allt Varo Hljott**

* * *

"Will."

"Will, wake up."

The girl's voice became more strained as she continued.

"Will, _please_ wake up."

_Who is that? _Will wondered, trying to pull himself out of Sleep's iron grasp. The voice was so familiar, so calming. It frustrated him that he couldn't pinpoint exactly whose voice it was.

"Will…Will, please, I want to see you one last time." The girl's voice hitched at the end, as if she were holding back tears.

At last, Will broke the surface of consciousness and peeled his eyes open, blinking sleep rapidly out of his eyes. He managed to focus on one—no, two—objects in the room. Two people. A young girl and a tall man in a hooded, floor length robe that seemed to be made of dust and shadows. The man's eyes were gone, his lips stitched shut, his face seemingly expressionless, but the girl's face was pale and worried.

"Will? Do you want some tea?"

Will stared at the girl. She was very beautiful, and something deep within him stirred at the sight of her. He reached out to touch her smooth, line-less face when it hit him. He smiled weakly.

"Good morning, Tess," he rasped.

Tessa's face lit up and she set the cup of tea she'd been clutching in her hands next to him on the nightstand. "Oh, Will," she sighed, flinging her arms around him.

In response to the sudden pressure on his chest, Will began to cough violently, and Tessa let him go so quickly he almost thought he'd burned her for some strange reason. He frowned.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Will," Tessa said, dabbing the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief. As much as he enjoyed being fussed over, he did not like being treated as if he were a child.

"Tessa," he said, sucking in air. "You need not…treat me as if I were a baby. I am..quite the opposite." He chuckled to himself, which turned into a violent fit of coughing.

Tessa's eyes were full of worry, but she pulled back all the same, squeezing his hand tightly.

_Mrs. Herondale, may I speak to you for a moment?_

Tessa looked back at who Will now recognized as a Silent Brother, and then looked back at him wistfully. "I'll be right back," she assured him.

Will sighed, too weak to nod, and leaned back further into his pillows as his wife left the room with the Silent Brother. He knew what they were going to talk about. He knew he wouldn't make it through the night.

He knew his time in this world was drawing to a close. The curtain was closing. The flame was sputtering.

He was dying.

After a few moments, the Silent Brother came back in alone and sat in the chair next to Will.

"Where…where is Tessa? Where…is my…Tess?"

_She has a few errands to run. She will be here soon._

Will didn't say anything. He felt irrationally irritated. Why couldn't the Silent Brother run the errands? Tessa was his wife. She was the one he wanted by his side at all times. Not some official of the Clave.

He he held his hand in front of his face, examining it with a sort of detached curiosity. It was wrinkled and covered in little brown spots. He could clearly see his veins threading through his skin and his wrists. His family ring clung to his sagging skin. He balled his hand up in a fist, a pang of regret and longing shooting through his chest.

He wanted nothing more than to jump out of bed, run down the street, and sweep Tessa up into his arms. He wanted to race down the side of a hill in Wales, feel the grass beneath his feet, the wind blow through his hair, hear the birds chirping in the cool morning air. He wanted to slide his seraph blade through a demon one last time. He wanted to finally test his theory that ducks would drown if you tied rocks to their feet.

He wanted to hold Tessa. He wanted to kiss her like his life depended on it. He wanted to do countless, nameless things to her, just once more.

He wanted to train with Jem. He wanted Jem by his side as he fought one last time. One last round with his _parabatai._

He wanted to be young again.

"Will?"

Will glanced up at Tessa, who was standing in the doorway, and smiled weakly at her. Poor Tessa. Poor Tessa, who really had turned out to be a warlock. He felt guilty, so guilty, for leaving her. Despite his better knowledge, he felt like a coward. Like he was the one terrified of living, so terrified that he was leaving one of two people he loved with his entire heart behind, alone.

At least he knew Jem would take care of her for a while, yet.

"Hello," he breathed at last, noticing that Tessa had climbed into the bed next to him. He leaned against her and inhaled her scent deeply. "Where…were you?"

Tessa took his left hand into her small, smooth ones and laid her cheek atop his head. She didn't mind that the little hair he had left was white. She loved him no matter what, and for that he was eternally grateful. When he'd first noticed that she wasn't aging like he was, he'd panicked. He worried that once he was no longer beautiful, like he had been in his past, she would find him revolting and leave him.

She had settled that anxiety by screaming at him and then not speaking to him for the rest of the day. He'd felt incredibly guilt that night as they lay in bed, when he could hear her muffled sobs next to him. He hadn't known what to do, then, except apologize and hold her tightly.

He couldn't even wrap his arms around her now.

"I…I had to place some telephone calls," she told him, rubbing his hand gently. "Cecy and Gabriel are on their way. Sophie should be by too."

"And the children?"

"And the children."

"Tessa?"

Tessa leaned back and looked at her husband. He gazed into those beautiful grey blue eyes, and a sense of peace and calm settled over him.

"Yes, Will?"

"I love you."

Tessa's eyes welled up with tears and she blinked furiously, squeezing his hand and kissing the top of his head.

* * *

Cecily leaned heavily on her cane, helping Gabriel rise from his chair. "I'm afraid we must be going," she said, her voice hitching. "Will…"

He shook his head slightly, glad to have been able to see his sister one last time. "I shall see you soon, Cecy."

She nodded, wiping away the tears that had spilled over her still-long lashes and down her lined cheeks. Gabriel adjusted his glasses and nodded slowly to Will. "Hail and farewell, William Herondale. May we meet again."

Will made a choked noise that sounded like a laugh. "Let us hope you are not as weaselly and annoying in the next life as you are in this one, Gabriel."

* * *

Will was exhausted. All he wanted to do was sleep, but he knew he couldn't.

Not yet.

He still had Tessa.

He could feel her tears on his skin, though she was trying very hard to hide the fact that she was crying from him. She was clinging onto his hand so tightly he feared it might break. If it did, he wouldn't mind. He almost hoped she would break it.

Suddenly, the door to their bedroom opened, and another Silent Brother swept in, though Will could immediately identify this one.

Jem.

Without a word, Jem opened the chest at the food of the bed and took out his violin. He stood next to the bed, on Will's other side, and wordlessly began to play. Will smiled slightly.

After twenty or so minutes of contentedly listening to Jem's sweet, high melodies and letting Tessa's warmth and comfort envelop him, he turned to look up at his wife. He made direct eye contact with her before he said it.

"I love you," he whispered.

Her expression changed. She smiled for him, but he knew how sad she was. How much this was hurting her. And it hurt him. But death couldn't be avoided now. It was inevitable, and it was knocking at his door, anxious for him to open it.

Will closed his eyes and finally, finally let the dark tendrils of sleep that had been clawing at him all day wrap around him and drag him into its depths, Tessa's last declaration of love and Jem's last notes on the violin ringing in his ears.

He was at peace.

* * *

Will stood on a river bank, looking around, bewildered. He was young again, much to his surprise. Around him was a dark forest, and through the trees, he could see a faint, bright light.

A man clothed in white appeared next to him on the bank. "Your loved ones are through the evergreen wood," he told Will, who was still peering through the trees. "Follow the path, do not get lost, and stop only when you reach the ivory gates. Only then will you live in peace forever."

Will was silent, fidgeting with his family ring. He looked at the man.

"I'm waiting for someone."

* * *

**1987**

"Follow the path through the evergreen wood and be at peace."

"I'm waiting for someone."

* * *

**2037**

"Follow the path through the evergreen wood and find peace."

"I'm waiting for someone."

* * *

**2068**

In the distance, Will could see a tiny figure floating across the river on a small raft, toward him. In the past years, he had greeted countless people who came across these waters, none being the one he was looking for. He had greeted his children, his grand children, family members he didn't even know he'd had. He'd briefly greeted one with James's eyes and his father's hair, named Jace, but that one had left as quickly as he had come, much to Will's confusion.

But this one seemed different.

As the figure got nearer, Will could make out a tuft of black hair with a silver streak in it, black eyes rimmed with the same silver. The boy was slender and tall, elegant, and dressed in a sweater and a pair of odd pants Will had only seen a few times in his years on the river bank.

Will broke into a grin, stood up, and held his hand out to the boy, who's raft had hit the shore. "Finally," he said.

Jem stepped on the bank and took his _parabatai's _hand. They embraced each other tightly, for as long as they could before they decided it was time to join the others.

"Finally," Jem confirmed, slinging his arm around his brother's shoulders.

With that they walked through the evergreen wood, through the ivory gates, and into the company of those whom they loved, arm in arm, soul in soul.

Forever.

* * *

**THE END.**


End file.
